ABSTRACT
Some years ago we selected classical conditioning of the nictitating membrane/eyelid closure response as a model system in which to analyze the neuronal substrates of basic associative learning and memory phenomena. We adopted this paradigm and the rabbits as the experimental animal of choice for two key reasons: (a) There is an extensive literature on the properties and parameters of this form of associative learning in both humans and animals (particularly the rabbit) (Black and Prokasy, 1972; Gormezano, 1972); and (b) it obeys the basic “laws” and exhibits the fundamental phenomena of associative learning in a similar manner in humans and in other mammals.
